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Iranwire – A group of defense attorneys has released a statement criticizing how charges against detainees from the January protests are being handled, warning that the process is undermining the rule of law.
In the statement, published on Thursday, February 5, the lawyers referred to the killing of thousands during the protests and demanded that the rights of detainees be respected. They stated: “The defense rights of the accused must never be compromised by expedited proceedings, political-security pressures, or broad and extra-legal interpretations.”
In Iran, the legal system is divided between public courts and the “Revolutionary Courts.” These courts handle security-related cases, including protest-related charges, and are widely known for operating with little transparency. Lawyers who represent defendants in such cases often face intense pressure from intelligence agencies, and some have been imprisoned simply for defending their clients, accused of “propaganda against the state.”
In another part of the statement, signed by nearly fifty defense attorneys, the lawyers listed additional grievances regarding the Judiciary’s handling of detainees’ cases, beyond the “deprivation of the right to an independent lawyer”:
“Hurried trials; identical reports from law enforcement officers [interrogators] and identical charges that have sometimes led to identical and error-ridden verdicts in prosecutor’s offices and court branches; funneling cases to a few specific branches; trial sessions lasting only a few minutes; restrictions on providing information and accountability to families; limiting families’ access to presiding authorities; the illegal broadcasting of televised confessions; illegal restrictions or bans on accepting legal representation for detainees; the issuance of detention orders disproportionate to the case content or orders leading to continued detention; restrictions on calls and visits; the non-execution of bail orders under various excuses; severe overcrowding in prisons; the outbreak of diseases; and the lack of proper attention to the health and medical status of prisoners.”
The reference to “specific branches” points to well-known judges in the Revolutionary Court system – such as Branch 15 or Branch 28 in Tehran – who are notorious for issuing harsh sentences, including death penalties, based largely on reports from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or the Ministry of Intelligence. In addition, under the Note to Article 48 of Iran’s Criminal Procedure Code, political detainees are often forced to select their lawyers from a state-approved list, leaving them without a genuinely independent defense.
The defense attorneys also expressed concern over repeated reports of “violent treatment, extracting confessions under pressure, and holding detainees in solitary confinement,” adding:
“It is obvious that these warnings do not mean that we, as lawyers, will hesitate for a moment in performing our professional duties to defend the rights of the people; for undoubtedly, by the oath we have taken, the more the people are placed in hardship, the more determined we shall be in vindicating their rights.”
